The rigging of live bait fish is necessary to attract certain types of fish or otherwise enhance the chances to catch game fish. Professional anglers understand the need for quick and secure rigging, the lack of either can result in a lost opportunity. Recreational anglers have even a greater difficulty in understanding the technique of live bait fish rigging as it takes years of experience to understand the type of rigging necessary to safely secure a fish and not impede the swimming action of the fish. Live bait is an expensive investment for most anglers and great care must be taken during rigging to prevent loss of the bait fish. By way of example, bait fishes used in offshore fishing include goggle-eye, small mackerel, pinfish and grunts to name a few. Bait fish are used to target marlin, sailfish, dolphin, tuna, wahoo, any so forth, many of which are targets in a fishing tournament. In 2005, six goggle-eye bait fish cost over $80.00 at the Lake Worth Inlet in Florida.
An improperly rigged bait fish can free itself quickly. Rigging of a replacement bait fish is time consuming and if the loss occurs at a critical moment, such as the spotting of a game, the result can be the loss of a tournament. Attempting to install a conventional rigging in high seas is very difficult since the bait hook is designed to pierce skin upon contact. Further, improper rigging may cause the bait fish to swim abnormally or prematurely expire. If properly rigged, a bait fish can swim indefinitely and remain strong enough to survive various fishing techniques such as kite fishing and slow trolling.
The problem with bait fish rigging, to which this invention addresses, arises in the difficulty of securing bait fish in a manner that does not stress the bait fish or be overly complicated for the fisherman. Current rigging techniques are complicated and difficult to perform while on the water, especially in high seas. Alternatively, the most simplified rigging technique, namely placing a fish hook beneath the dorsal fin works well with kite fishing but does not allow for proper positioning of the bait hook. For certain types of fish, this placement does not position the fishing hook in a proper position for a positive hookup, which can result in lost opportunities. Placement of the fish hook in a bait fish is important if you want them to stay alive and swim naturally.
What is lacking in the art is a quick and convenient way of attaching live bait fish to a fishing hook eliminating the need for complex rigging and providing similar, if not enhanced, performance characteristics of a rigged bait.